2006 Chevy Duramax Tops One Million Miles

[msirach]

How far have you driven your truck

Mike Sirach - CleanMPG - May 22, 2012

General Motors and the Faces of GM celebrated a huge milestone at the Flint, MI assembly plant last Friday. On April 4th and in only six years, Hugh and Tammy Pennington have topped the one million mile mark in their 2006 Duramax powered Chevy Silverado 3500 HD 4x4. How many auto drivers can say they have driven a single vehicle the equivilent of two trips to the moon and back or 40 times around the earth?

The truck wasn’t driven an average of 474 miles per day gathering groceries! The husband and wife team haul camping trailers as large as 38 feet all across the United States for delivery to dealers and customers. They tout the durability of their truck and its low cost of repairs. One item they didn’t mention was fuel economy.

James Davis of CleanMPG has a 2007 2 wheel drive version of the same truck. He also praises the durability of his Duramax powered Silverado. With over 382,000 miles logged, it also has been virtually troublefree. Along with the durability, he constantly monitors the fuel mileage. He delivers campers also, but only in the Midwest region and Canada. The routes pay a fixed fee for delivery, so mpg is directly affecting the profit on the trip.

Using a typical mpg of 16mpg reported on several forums for pulling a camper with a Duramax, a whopping 62,500 gallons of diesel would have been used for an out of pocket expense of $240,000 at $3.82 per gallon. A more concientious and conservative approach to pulling trailers could be used. Hypermiling could increase the mpg to as much as 22mpg. The reduced amount of fuel would be 45,454 gallons for $174,543. In six years and one million miles, this could yield $65,457 more in your pocket.

[killer6795]

I just read an article about this couple and their truck and they claim to get the oil changed every 3,000 miles. That's an oil change every week! I suppose one can't argue with success, but I can't help but wonder what Chevy recommends as far as oil change intervals go (of course I'm not forgetting about the constant load this truck is dealing with).

A million miles is an impressive feat for sure.

[TheStepChild]

.....

[atlaw4u]

I would be interested to know what parts have needed replacement. Has the transmission been rebuilt multiple times, what work has the engine needed other tran routine maintenance, etc. . .

[TheStepChild]

I read 2 articles, one on this truck and another on another one that was at 996,000.

IIRC this one had trans issues at 850,000 ish

The other one had a trans at 500,000, one set of injectors, original cp3 pump (high pressure fuel pump). very minor repairs to it. I'll try to find the facebook post on it. It was at a duramax shop here in Michigan. Heres a pic of his odometer:







At 382,000+ where I'm at now, engine internals are all stock and original. Trans: I added a shift kit at low 100,000's and the tail housing was replaced due to the brick busting it. Stock and original injectors, turbo, fuel pump, blah, blah, blah. I've done shocks a few times. Transmission lines once. One alternator

Added aftermarket & performance stuff like Intercooler & bigger hot side tube, intake, exhaust, tuner, deep pan for trans & rear dif, water meth injection.

Checked my injector balance rates at 200,000 miles they looked great. Checked again at 300,000 miles almost unchanged. Going to do it again at 400K.

Getting close to needing another set of tires. Only have 153,000 miles on this set



'



edit for FB info:

posted May 11

http://www.facebook.com/MerchantAutomotiveLLC

2006 LBZ - Original motor, never had the valve covers off! One set of injectors, same injection pump. MA450 transmission with 500k on it, MA transfer case with nearly 450k on it. A handful of power steering pumps, 3 alternators and some small stuff.

[phoebeisis]

Lotta freakin' HARD MILES!
1,000,000 and 375,000 tow miles-wow!

[herm]

These trucks dont require regular water pump replacements?

[TheStepChild]

The first + second generation 01-05 seem to see water pumps. Guy that lives near me with an 07 with over 600 k had his water pump replaced in the 500,000's

[chilimac02]

This is about 10 times the miles many people are willing to go before getting a new car. So does that mean taking it ti 1mil miles helps the environment?

[peacefrog_0521]

I was just amazed that there is still a Flint Assembly Plant.